Chapter 227: The Immortal's Demise (2)
"I see..." Aang muttered as he felt a heavy feeling suffocating him after one of the 'skins' of the spirit of destiny revealed how only someone outside of this realm could have an 'easier' time ending Reaper and Grim, the former more so than the latter and Destiny gave a good reason for this situation as it chose to impart its wisdom to Aang alone.
Finding himself near a pond filled with fish that had facial features similar to the land animals, Aang waited and listened to what Destiny had to say.
"This lake is destiny," the squirrel chittered and then threw in the nut it held in its tiny claws, causing the strangely calm surface of the lake to ripple and making the otherwise still fish finally swim around.
"That nut is Nik, to put it bluntly. His existence here has caused many ripples. But..." The squirrel and Aang saw how the lake returned to its calm surface soon as the nut started to settle into the bed of the lake. "Eventually, everything returns to its rightful place. Those who are destined to exist will be born in one manner or the other. Those who are destined to die will face that truth one way or the other. Spirits don't hate Nik. They envy him, and Mokshi. They envy the existence that allows beings like Nik to be the traveler he is. They envy Mokshi for its birth. After all, Mokshi is the last primordial spirit to have emerged."
Aang gulped and questioned, "Beings like Nik?"
"Indeed," A nut, somehow, was already in the squirrel's hand when Aang wasn't looking as it tossed it into the lake once again, "There have been many travelers in our world. A few of them were encountered by your predecessors, too. All of them have caused ripples in this lake. But that does not matter, does it? For you, this is your present. In some pool of possibilities, a meteor granted Ozai unimaginable strength. In another, it made you a slave. Right now... you have a few paths. A few decisions."
Aang locked his brows. As if he could care about some magical meteor— how Sokka would put it— or being a slave. His friends were in danger!
"How can I defeat Grim?" He questioned seriously, "Although you said that Nik will have the easiest time beating both the spirits but you also implied that Grim could be the trickiest. There must be some weakness to Grim, right?"
The squirrel grew silent before shaking its head, "Grim cover its tracks within the pool of destiny itself. Even I can only doubt its weakness."
"There must be something!" Aang asserted, "Please guide me."
"Grim's... weakness may be its own undoing. It's a thread knotted within itself. A thread of possibility that even I cannot peek into... that's what I have come to understand about it."
Aang managed to restrain the groan that almost leaked from his throat and he rolled his eyes, "Now that doesn't help me... does it?"
He looked down once again only to find the squirrel no longer present, "I may not be able to peek into Nik's, Mokshi's, Grim's, and Reaper's pool of possibilities but there are many around you. I have high hopes for you... and your friends, Avatar Aang. Those that remain, anyway."
His expression changed, "What's that supposed to mean?" He shouted but got no reply in return and finally let out an annoyed huff, "Nik was right. Leave it to spirits being an incomprehensible mess..."
Aang jogged back to where Hina was serving Iroh a cup of tea while Niwan was looking over through some parchments.
"You... actually have a tea set in the spirit world?" Aang blurted out only for Hina's smile to grow a tad bit mischievous as she nodded, "Amazing, right, Avatar Aang?"
"We returned to the material world to get these things when you went off talking to that spirit," Niwan replied absentmindedly and remained wholly unaware of Hina's glare. Looking at Iroh and then others, Aang finally spoke up, "I'm really grateful for all of your help—"
Before he could speak any further, Hina interjected with a frown and stated in a stern tone, "Avatar Aang, please don't ask us to sit idly by while you shoulder the responsibility for this world alone!"
Adopting a dumb stare, Aang rubbed the back of his head and blushed, "I... actually was going to ask for all of your help even more... and please call me Aang."
Iroh's smile broadened with fondness prevailing in his gaze as he silently sipped on his tea. 'It would seem... Aang really only needed a master in firebending and not how to appreciate others around him...'
"Ehm, the first thing we need to do right now is to save Zuko. And... we should be wholly prepared for him to have turned on us. And then, we'll return to the spirit world once again. For this... I would require all of your help."
---
Zuko remained knelt, tears pouring out from the corner of his eyes as every word Ursa spat tore through his heart clean and turned it to shreds.
"Oh, I should have poisoned you!" Ursa screamed with spit drooling down accompanied by blood and her right cheek bruised as Ozai's expression turned stern and he shouted, "Silence!" His backhanded slap struck Ursa's bruised cheek once again, causing her face to snap sideways with the sheer force of the slap causing blood to splatter out from her parted lips.
Zuko's heart clenched and before he could beg Ozai to not hurt her again, Ursa cackled madly and spat a mix of blood and saliva onto his face, shouting, "Your royal line is the same! I hate you! I HATE YOU! I wish I could have stabbed you when you were inside me, oh, I wish that dearly. Curses! I curse you all!"
His lips quivered as the drool and blood spat over his face began to drip down the edge of his jaws and Zuko's gaze grew dull. He didn't know why... but he didn't feel angry. He didn't even feel disheartened. As he met his gaze with the venomous gaze of Ursa, his golden pupils revealed a look of disgust.
"Who are you?"
Not only 'Ursa' but even Kei Lo paled as Ozai screamed, "Sleep, damn it!"
Zuko's gaze felt heavy at that very instant and he soon collapsed to the ground. Meanwhile, Ozai shouted with his eyes reddening, "It's the ELEVENTH time! What is going on?!"
Kei Lo lowered his head while 'Ursa' didn't look any better at this point.
But Ozai wasn't asking them. He was questioning someone else.
An amused tone replied from within Ozai, "Hmm... It is curious, indeed. Zuko should have succumbed the second time despite the obvious flaw in your script. I never saw the possibility of his willpower and control being this... tenacious. To think he wasn't a raging mess by the seventh time places him above you and the act of not raising his hand towards his so-called mother by the ninth time while feeling so angry really just makes him the gem in the rotten lineage you are."
"Mind your words!" Ozai threatened with a growl.
"I merely state the fact. After all, you are trying to sacrifice a willing successor for immortality. That I will grant, of course. But now I wonder... why are things still not going the way they should have after Reaper devoured Nik... As things stand, I have no answer for you. Continue or stop at your own will."
Ozai gritted his teeth and took a deep breath before commenting, "Kei Lo... take him back."
---
Four cloaked figures made their way out of the sewers of Phoenix City and found the streets completely empty under the curfew placed by Ozai. Iroh closed his eyes and so did Aang suddenly.
"There are three troops patrolling around us," Aang whispered as he just used seismic sense.
"Of them, only the one moving to the third street left from here feels the strongest," While Iroh's heat vision wasn't as accurate as Nik's spirit senses to measure an enemy's rough strength, it got the job done nonetheless and Niwan finally whispered, "The other airbenders will soon find our tracks... are you ready?"
"I am... remember, the moment we get inside, we save Zuko and leave... but, if something happens, leave it to me." Aang's smile did little to assure but Hina who seemed to believe every word he spoke while a tense emotion developed in Iroh's and Niwan's gaze.
The four of them moved quickly. They could defeat a troop or two but all it would do is alert the enemy. Their movement, however, did not go completely unnoticed.
As soon as they returned to the corridor marked by Niwan to belong to Zuko, the four of them found a lone Ozai already waiting for them.
"Brother," Ozai smiled and promptly released a tired sigh, "Poverty and mediocrity have started to suit you more and more."
Iroh frowned and whispered, "We all saw this coming. Don't lose your nerves... I will keep him busy while you three take care of the rest."
But before Iroh took a step forward, Aang shot out with his staff cleaving vertically and causing a large gust to impact an already prepared Ozai as a wave of darkness promptly emerged from his orifices, and once this cover of darkness absorbed the impact, it caught fire and spread out.
"Go!" Aang stated with a serious expression while watching Ozai carefully, "There isn't just one Grim but other spirits, too, right? I will keep him busy, Master Iroh... you should deal with others inside."
As he said, they were aware of Ozai securing the region and even about the soldiers within Zuko's room. Finding it a waste of time to complain, Iroh released a low huff and barged into the room alongside Niwan as they struck with lethal force while Hina cast a worried glance towards Aang and closed the door behind her after entering the room.
"So, Avatar Aang, ready for the second round? To think Grandfather Sozin was so worried that he would go out of his way to butcher your lineage and legacy... you're just a weak boy."
Ozai smirked as flames caught his fist and gave an unruly glow to the thin tendrils of dark mist oozing out from him and slowly covering the surroundings.
"Why are you doing this? You and Reaper... there must be a reason for this madness! This war!" Aang questioned while trying to buy as much time as possible.
"Reason?" Ozai's voice distorted and melded into with a shrieking tone of a witch, "Does a spirit born to shift the threads and possibilities of fate need a reason to do that very task? Humanity and Spirituality do not suit each other and your pathetic existence is the result of such a union, Avatar!" It shrieked, "You stopped my existence! Why? It does not conform to your human and simple mind that what I do is to survive. That I live, too?"
Aang bit his lip, "And what of the pain and suffering of others... an entire century wasted on war!"
"A century of development that would take thousands!" 'Ozai' countered, "A century of resources returned to nature that will grow beyond your dreams! A century of reduction of humans that will let the spirits thrive on open grounds again and remain unaffected by their warring minds! Don't preach me, young one. Many wiser ones have tried and admitted to their own inadequacies!"
Clenching the staff, Aang shouted, "Don't you think for a second that whatever you did is for others! Your thoughts... are not spiritual! And your actions aren't noble either... you call me human but you never looked at your own reflection. I don't see a mad king and a spirit... I only see two mad men!"
***
Alternate Title: Dragon Heart Zuko
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